You can buy Google Glass again — but only the Enterprise edition

If you missed out on the consumer version of Google Glass, there is now a way to purchase the wearable from an enterprise-centric supplier.

Augmented reality looks to be gaining some traction thanks to the efforts of companies including Apple and Microsoft, but a few years ago, it was Google leading the charge with its Glass wearable. Of course, that device never really took off with users — but it is making a resurgence in a slightly different form.

Glass Enterprise is now available from wearable specialist Streye. As that name might suggest, it is a slightly reconfigured version of Google Glass that is aimed at businesses who want to employ the technology among its employees.

Pokemon Go provided many people with their first exposure to AR and the general public might associate the technology with gaming, much like virtual reality. However, AR is poised to offer a lot of utility in the workplace, especially when it comes to head-mounted implementations like Glass.

Glass can offer the same kind of information that might previously have been relegated to a computer monitor, smartphone screen, or a tablet. The key differentiator is that the device’s form factor means that the wearer is free to use their hands while keeping whatever content they have on-screen within their line of sight.

The medical profession offers up the most obvious uses for this functionality, like the opportunity for a surgeon to keep an eye on their patient’s vital signs without taking their eye off the task at hand. There are all kinds of uses cases though, as evidenced by Microsoft’s demo of AR being implemented on a construction site at Build 2017.

Glass was a big undertaking for Google that did not really go anywhere, so it is not too surprising to see the hardware being recycled in this manner. The company long since discontinued the consumer version of the wearable, so as it stands this is the only way to grab the hardware if you are so inclined.

While Streye is marketing the product to enterprise users, there’s nothing to stop an individual from making an order — it is just a question of how much utility they’re going to get from their purchase. Glass Enterprise is priced at 1,550 pounds (about $1,820) and comes with access to the Streye Platform and the Streye Light app.